Strike 3
 

Cali Sorors and Sister Friends,

Are you "honoring" the strike of the big three grocery stores (Ralphs, Albertsons and Vons) if so, where are you shopping?

Honoring.
Shopping at the rich folks' stores in OC -- Gelson's, Bristol Farms and Whole Foods.
I wonder how long it's going to go on. Understand that UFCW members pay no premiums for full family health coverage, a situation that only 4% of U.S. workers share (I'm a health journalist and just did a story on it).

I'm not sure that the UFCW people are going to get a similar contract. Most people share their healthcare costs these days.

Is the strike just about health care or is it more than that?

Grocery clerks are striking in St. Louis, too--Schnucks and two other stores.

About both health care and wages. The grocery chains want a two-tier wage system (some long-term checkers can make up to $17+ an hour) because they claim that Wal-Mart is "more competitive" (read: they only pay at the max $10 an hour) for clerks.

I've done both. I usually do a lot of shopping at Trader Joe's, but I have had no problems crossing the picket line when I need to.

Management is asking the union to pay a $5 a week co-pay for individual coverage and $15 a week for family coverage. All things considered, that is still a generous package nowadays.

I present work in the field of employee relations and I assist in management's negotiations of union contracts. I've seen the spiraling costs of health care premiums. The costs are outpacing inflation and show no signs of stabilizing any time soon. While I sympathize with the costs of raising a family, if employees don't contribute *something,* many companies will be unable to stay financially stable.

This is what makes me angry. The unions point the finger at management and say that we are trying to screw our employees. Management throws up its hands and says, "we have no money to afford this." Why is no one pointing their fingers at the health care industry, which some experts estimate will raise the costs of their premiums 15% annually? This is why we need major health care reform. Something's got to give. :(

Something's got to give, but I don't know what. Believe me, I've tried to figure this out myself (I'm a healthcare journalist).

True. Unfortunately healthcare doesn't work like other industries. The law of supply and demand don't apply.

I have my own theories as to how to control the cost of healthcare, but I won't hijack the thread.

**coughinsurancecompaniescough***

Okay, WHY am I completely out of the loop? I didn't even know Albertsons was on strike (we don't have Ralphs or Vons up here)! I must be the least informed person in the nation (although I listen the news/talk radio, get the morning paper daily and have access to the Internet all day).

Well, I traditionally honor strikes, especially now because I'm a Union member. I don't know the issues, but I do know that healthcare, as others have pointed out, have become the lightening rod in Union negotiations for the past few years.

I agree that the real culprit is the way we've structured the health care industry. As long as we continue to rely less on preventative medicine, we will continue to have a growing aged population who will need major surgery from years of health neglect. Providing people with a sound diet plan and early detection tests for example has to be cheaper than insulin for diabetes, major heart surgery and lengthy hospital stays.

TTT/update
 

Ralphs' clerks ordered to stop picketing

By Associated Press


LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Union leaders ordered grocery clerks locked out of 249 Ralphs supermarkets in Southern California to stop picketing Friday, a move designed to create division between Ralphs and two other supermarket chains affected by a three-week strike.

The nearly 18,000 Ralphs employees were scheduled to stop picketing at noon Friday, said Rick Icaza, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 770.

The employees would soon be moved to bolster picket lines at about 600 stores operated by Safeway Inc.'s Vons and Albertsons Inc., as well as the two chains' stores outside Southern California, Icaza said.

The union hoped Ralphs would break from its negotiating partnership with Albertsons and Vons and hammer out a contract with the union separately.

"Ralphs, from our standpoint, has not taken a really hard line on negotiations," Icaza said. "We believe if we were sitting down with Ralphs individually, we wouldn't have this strike."

Calls to Ralphs were not immediately returned Friday.

The union was still working out how it would reassign the locked-out Ralphs workers to pickets outside other stores, Icaza said.

Some employees would be stationed at Southern California distribution centers for Albertsons and Vons, and the union was counting on Teamster warehouse workers and tractor-trailer drivers to honor the picket lines, further squeezing the chains' business. They would not picket distribution centers for Ralphs stores, allowing drivers to deliver goods.

Customers wanting to shop at Ralphs also would not be faced with the prospect of crossing a picket line, although union leaders were still encouraging customers to avoid the stores.

Grocery clerks went on strike against Vons on Oct. 11 after both sides were unable to agree on a new labor contract, but Albertsons and Ralphs then locked out their union workers in a show of solidarity. The key issue has been how much money the roughly 70,000 grocery workers would pay toward their health care coverage.

Neither side has returned to the negotiating table since the start of the walkout, which has affected stores from San Luis Obispo to San Diego. No talks were scheduled as of Friday, Icaza said.

The wildfires that have burned nearly 750,000 acres in Southern California and incinerated more than 2,800 homes in recent days also were a factor in the decision to withdraw the pickets from the Ralphs stores, Icaza said.

"In light of the challenges, particularly those relating to the devastating wildfires that many of our customers are facing, we would like to do what we can to make our consumers' lives a little easier," Icaza said.

I think with the holidays just around the corner, Ralph's does not want to risk completely losing customers to Stater Bros, Whole Foods, Trader Joes's, etc

I "might" have to arm myself with my coupons, Ralphs card and dark sun glasses soon to get my shop on.